Gina Rinehart coal mine given short shrift by Queensland land court
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Version 0 of 1. A massive coal mine part-owned by Gina Rinehart should either be halted completely or subjected to restrictions to better safeguard nearby residents’ water supply, the Queensland land court has ruled. The land court’s presiding member, Paul Smith, said the Queensland government should either reject the Alpha coal mine or allow it to proceed as long as “make-good agreements” are struck with local landholders and that “all concerns pursuant to the precautionary principle are resolved” over water use. The coalition of environmental and community groups which instigated the case have hailed the judgment as a major blow to the mine, which would be one of the world’s largest. The Coast and Country Association brought the case alongside two landholder families, the Andersons and the Curries, and a third landholder, Paola Cassoni, who live near the mine’s site in the Galilee Basin, in central Queensland. The objectors claimed the mine poses a serious risk to vital groundwater supplies. The case also centred upon the damage caused by carbon emissions flowing from the 32 million tonnes of coal the mine would produce for export. The $3.2bn Alpha project is 79% owned by Indian firm GVK and 21% owned by Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting. It already has federal government approval and is set to operate from 2016. Smith ruled that GVK Hancock must resolve concerns raised by the landholders and that three additional monitoring points are to be placed on each of the properties to analyse the water level. The water modelling conducted by the company was of “high quality”, Smith said, but “there is insufficient hard data to have a sufficient level of confidence that groundwater impacts will be as predicted” by its modelling. “Impacts unforeseen by the model may very well occur to the disadvantage of landholders such as the Andersons, Curries and Ms Cassoni,” Smith said. Smith said he had sympathy with the view that the Alpha coal mine would cause a huge release of greenhouse gases – estimated by opponents to be 60 million tonnes over its lifetime – but that was an issue borne from demand for coal-fired electricity, rather than the supply from mines themselves. GVK Hancock said the carbon emissions from the mined coal would be “infinitesimal” in the global context. The company has claimed the project, alongside its Kevin’s Corner mine, would create more than 20,000 jobs directly and indirectly, and more than $40bn in taxes and royalties. The land court’s judgment will be passed on to the Queensland government, which will decide how to implement its findings. “The court has upheld people’s concerns about the impact on farming, the water resources of the region,” said Derec [correct] Davies, of Coast and Country. “This is a landmark win for Queensland. We have stood up to the international mining industry and won, albeit partial. If the company wants to progress its proposal it must go away and do more homework. “This is a win for everyone who wants to breathe clean air, have clean water, cares about Australian agriculture and our climate. “ Davies, who said the judgment in relation to climate change was disappointing, said the Queensland government should stand by the court’s ruling. GVK Hancock and the Queensland government have been contacted for comment. |